I know I write a lot about breakfast. Can’t help it. It is, after all, the most important meal of the day, and Portland has such a cultish breakfast and brunch culture (and let’s face it; brunch is just breakfast with alcohol). It might just be that we are humble, foul-weather folk who will eat anything that tastes good with coffee. Best not to analyze it too closely, I guess.
Thing is, I hate waiting for breakfast. Absolutely hate it with a searing napalm passion. My favorite breakfast joints in town were discovered because of my impatience; I’ll gladly pay a little extra for the fact that we never have to wait for a table at Sub Rosa, and I love Denny’s-esque Tabor Hill Cafe just as much for the same reason (and despite their insistence on providing only depressingly peaked, generic hot sauce in lieu of Tabasco).
Or…
I can make breakfast at home. It’s so easy, that unless I’m feeling particularly lazy or like a princess, there’s not a lot of reason to leave the house for it. Especially when I had the foresight to buy a loaf of mochi milk bread from An Xuyen (located in my neighborhood, but they’re also a supplier to Uwajimaya). Mochi milk bread is basically the Vietnamese take on brioche, made with the addition of mochi flour for extra tenderness and sweetness.
I made a basic custard of egg and whole milk, added a bit of sugar, a couple scratches of nutmeg and a drop of homemade bourbon vanilla, then plunked in thick slices to sponge it up. I browned them on both sides and then put them in the oven to cook the custard through and let the sides get a bit toasty. Meanwhile, I made a quick compote by warming sliced strawberries with some of the Meyer lemon marmalade that I canned a couple months ago. Just like that, lickety-split, and you’re patting down your apron.
Mmmmm-mmmmmm… Fabulous. What a treat. I must start making my breakfasts with alcohol
And I’m totally with you on abhorring waiting for breakfast. If we’re out or away someplace, it’s the one thing that can ruin my day at a single stroke. Petty, but true. I wake up hungry, simple as!
I totally get your impatience at brekky time….I need my coffee! Heather, this comes down as one of your best creations….I love mochi! The compote sounds beaut too!
If I don’t get fed pretty promptly, I make life very unpleasant!
I’ve never seen mochi milk bread, but it sounds like a product worth looking out for. It seems to make amazing toast! Bet it’d do a killer bread and butter pudding too.
Mochi milk bread sounds genius for French toast. I live all of eight blocks from a Vietnamese bakery, why did I not know it existed? You’re a genius. Now move to Philadelphia so instead of waiting for breakfast, I can just walk over to your house. I’ll bring the booze!
TYVM you’ve solved all my porlbems
Nice article, thanks for the information.
The shots with the compote running all over the place made me drool just a bit. I had to go grab a strawberry lemon bar from the fridge to sate my craving, but it wasn’t quite the same!